Summer memories - London visit

Yikes ... blogging ... always one of those things that I push to the side and forget about ... in fact so forget about that my post is taking us way, way back to the Summer.  It suddenly dawned on me this afternoon, as I was re-tracing my steps looking for my house keys that had jumped out of my pocket when walking Poppy, that I haven't blogged about a short break visiting the capital with Paul and although it is a distant memory, it is indeed a lovely distant memory.

Our previous visit to London had seen us pounding the streets continuously for two days - we walked so much that Paul was physically exhausted for a number of days afterwards!  This time we pledged not to walk so much and although we endeavoured to keep to this, Paul still managed to clock up a very large number of steps on his Fitbit.

Fantastic views from the cable car  ~~  ~~  refreshing cocktails at Las Iguanas.

An impromptu visit to see Dunkirk at the O2 cinema was superb, and we couldn't believe how quick our underground journey home was afterwards.  Before this we'd taken the Emirates cable car over the Thames from Greenwich to Royal Victoria Dock and spent the afternoon lounging in the sun on the decks of the roof bar of the floating Good Hotel, drinking beer and watching the planes take off from the City Airport.  We had a quick cable car ride back to the O2 and a rather expensive but delicious evening meal at Las Iguanas before sinking into comfy seats to watch the film.

Liberty - where else!

The following day we were here, there and everywhere, walking the streets of the West End and finding hidden eateries and coffee bars in all sorts of places.  An inspirational wander through Liberty, slowing the pace considerably through the haberdashery department, then lunch at The Lamb and Flag behind Oxford Street.  We stopped off at The Japan Centre, Piccadilly to pick up some cute goodies and nibbles for the kids before tootling off to discover a superb restaurant, Thai Square, with a very reasonable pre-Theatre menu for our evening meal.

The Royal Arcade, Old Bond Street ~~ a flurry of blue paper birds and stunning architecture.

Our final, very wet day saw us heading off towards Kings Cross station with Paul mentioning the
British Library as a possible "get out of the rain" destination.  A truly amazing place, and one I'd never known about - full of interesting documents and beautifully decorated manuscripts.  The perfect end to our mini break.

Summer ... a mix of rain, storms and sun.

Summer's here, the elderflowers are blooming, catch them while you can, it's Elderflower Champagne time.

Since exam kick off in mid May, family life has concentrated a lot around Ben's GCSEs.  He sat all seven papers at the secondary school in St. Neots and seemed fairly OK with how they went.  There has been continuous revision all the way through the exams, concentrating more on Maths, which Ben felt was his weakest subject.  There was a good two week gap between the Physics papers which we thought was good at the start but proved difficult as the second paper loomed as Ben had used all his mental energy on Maths and needed extra "reminder" revision to get through the Physics.  Results will be out on 25th August - fingers crossed he get the grades needed to move on to A-levels.

Three of the papers were morning sittings and we felt it better for our nerves to stay over.  Out of all the times we've been to St. Neots, this year and last, we have only had 1 fabulously warm sunny day - St. Neots in the sun is far, far better than in the rain!  I can now say I know the roads of St. Neots well - finding several back routes between the school, town and the two Premier Inn hotels we stayed in ... with Costa and Prezzo being excellent places to reside.

I have been enjoying a very chilled horse these last few weeks as Jay has been going out with his buddy for overnight grazing.  Most mornings I'd find him zonked out and it's been super to see him relaxed enough to continue snoozing while I give him a good stroke and pester him with continuous selfie shots.

Unfortunately, he seems to get up to night time silliness and it has caused himself a couple of minor injuries meaning he's back to going out in the day time, in his own paddock - he's just too much of a playful kid when out with others!

Paul and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary on 18th June and decided to experience our first Polo Match on the 19th to celebrate.  Luckily the weather held for the day (it bucketed down later) and we were able to sit out, enjoy a lovely hog roast sandwich lunch, and experience the horsing around.  I came away a bit hooked on the game - it's quick, fun and just brilliant.  The commentator was fantastic ... he really made the event.



I think it would be safe to say we've had more wet weather than sunny so far this Summer.  Great for the paddocks, the grass is continuously replenishing, not so good for the gardeners who are having to constantly mow the grass and keep on top of the weeds.

The first picture with its stunning bright poppies is a real contrast to the heavy storm clouds in the distance over Kings Lynn.  We watched as a funnel appeared from the centre of the cloud (probably too small to see in the photo), luckily it dissipated.  The second photo was taken a couple of days ago.  We had sunshine but the storm clouds were moving in swiftly from Holbeach way.  We could hear the rumbles of thunder but strangely it never actually reached us.  The third photo was taken during a greenlaning trip in Norfolk.  We had cloud burst after cloud burst so we endeavoured to drive along sturdy lanes to preserve the countryside.  We were surprised to come across this ford at the end of one. Paul had to scrabble around under the Landie to put in the wading plugs before driving through it!

Enjoy any warm sunny days that come your way.

Away from the sewing desk ...

I can't believe we've hit May already!  Every January I'm determined I'll make my life easier, streamlined, more relaxing, more organised, but sadly once again, this year seems to be flying by and I continue to feel like I'm chasing my tail!  Ellie's Treasures is keeping me busy, but my resolution to make a new fabric wallet every two months has completed fallen by the way-side!  It's been five months and the poor wallet is still half sewn.  I have other projects in the pipeline that I'm working on and very excited about - more on that in another catch up post.

So, other than shop duties, we have managed to go out and about and do other some other things.

Ben and I went to view the Flying Scotsman, back in February, as it sped through a junction on its way to Peterborough.  We had a fantastic view (although it could have gone horribly wrong as another train overtook it and blocked our view for a short while) and got some photos as it went past (at quite a surprising speed).  As it was a glorious blue sky day we then headed off to Barnack Hills and Holes to give Poppy for a long walk and have a run up and down a few steep mounds.

Katie come home from Uni for a short visit just after the Easter weekend and we spent a lot of the time eating lovely food (must mention The Rose and Crown, Houghton-on-the-Hill - extremely delicious and fantastic service), catching up and then doing an impromptu visit to Imperial War Museum, Duxford.  Always a super place to visit - so much to see, read and take in.  The updated American hangar has been superbly done and was probably everyone's favourite hangar of the day.

Finally, a trip to the beach last week with my yard ladies.  Desperate for a good gallop, they organised a beach ride with a Orchard Farm Stables at Chapel St. Leonards (near Skegness).  The forecast for the day was absolutely atrocious - strong winds and heavy rain - but as luck would have it, the rain held off until late afternoon, the sun shone and the winds weren't as blustery as first thought.  They had a super couple of hours on lovely horses, splashing along the water's edge with a few fast gallops thrown in.  I went along to take photos and video.  Naturally man on horseback is going to move far quicker than man on foot (especially as I also had to dodge shallow creeks on the beach), so I was left to wander the open sands for a while.  To keep me company, a darling seal came up to the edge of the shore to play in the water.  To start with I thought it was a black bin bag, but as I got closer I realised it was a seal, flipping itself over and over as the tide splashed onto the beach.  I clicked away on my camera and managed to catch a good pic - it's not every day you see such a lovely sight.  We were all  exhausted on our way home - the girls from all the horsey fun and me from the fresh air and miles of walking!

A Spring like Winter

According to Sky News, December 2015 has been the wettest month since records began and the warmest in 105 years.  The UK flooding has been quite unbelievable and I'm extremely pleased we have escaped disaster ... so far.

When you own a horse, your favourite website/app is one that provides detailed (and hopefully accurate) daily weather forecasts and it's been a roller coaster of fluctuating temperatures since Winter began.  At one point in the last month the temperature was warm enough to contemplate putting my horse out without any rug whatsoever (something I've never even considered during previous Winters).  The weather is weird at the moment - temperatures rise, then fall, one minute it's calm, the next you're battling to stay upright because of the strong gusts of wind.  All very strange indeed and quite unsettling.  The ground is a squelching mess, blossom is appearing on our neighbour's tree and the birds are singing in the early evening as if it's a warm Summer night!

You can imagine my surprise when the yard owner handed me a couple of bunches of daffodils last week, picked by her farmer husband.  Apparently there's a field of them not too far from me, all having bloomed far too early of course.  Naturally they look super, a sign of Spring, but also a little strange standing next to the Christmas decorations!

Summer moving into Autumn

The Summer's been a good one.  We've had a nice mix of warm days, hot days, extremely hot days (too hot to do anything days) and wet and windy days (which have been good for the garden and for my horse's paddock).  In all, I think the Summer's been lovely ... and now we're moving into one of my favourite times of the year, Autumn.

I took some photos of the garden over the Summer months and was surprised to see that the vast majority of flowers that bloom in my borders are of the pink variety ... perhaps something needs to be done about that ... mix it up a little for next year.

These shrubs seem to grow like wildfire.  There's a mixture of different ones here (many of which I have no idea of their names), with a pink rose and pink clematis too - the common one that spreads and spreads and clings to everything.  The pink and white shrub at the far end of this photo is one of my favourites as the flowers are fuzzy in appearance and remind me of  little dabs of powdered paint on blotting paper.  Unfortunately they don't have a scent, much like the pink rose next to it.

Here's another pink corner!  The hydrangea blooms pink because our soil has limestone in it.  We inherited this one, but I prefer the blue flowered ones really.  I see you can add sulphur or peat moss to the soil to lower the pH in order to get turn the flowers blue - perhaps I could try that.  The pink rose bush has a beautiful, delicate scent and was a gift from my in-laws for a wedding anniversary a couple of years back.  I do love the stone squirrel ornament.  He's moved with us over the years and is happy among the pink plants!  Sad to see he's lost an ear along the way though, and I have a feeling he's lost an eye too!

You see what I mean ... all pink!  Pink is gorgeous of course, I'm not grumbling, just didn't realise until I saw the photos!  This fabulous wooden tub of lavender, fuchsia and petunias was another wedding anniversary gift from my in-laws, for this year and the rustic metal mirror a present from my sister-in-law for my birthday.  It makes a pretty corner to this flower bed.

We have several wooden benches around the garden, I try and hide them between trees as little hideaways to sit and while the time away.  I moved this bench from another location as this spot used to be our vegetable plot and gets the majority of the sun.  This year we decided to let the plot turn wild and the abundance of red poppies was fabulous.

During the warmer evenings Paul and I would grab a bottle of beer each and head off to walk Poppy along the marshes.  I've always had a love of grasses and there's several different, very hardy types by the river bank.  We'd sit on the stones and enjoy the peace of the water as the sun went down...

and we'd witness picturesque scenes like this.

The fields close to home are often used to grow wheat, sugar beet or potatoes so it was a surprise to discover these cheerful sunflowers when they burst open.  With the sun setting behind during an early evening walk it was a tiny reminder that Summer is coming to an end.  Driving home from jujitsu with Ben last night in the dark at 8 pm was a more stark  reminder!

And this little fella, found ambling across the park two days ago, will, I'd imagine, have hibernation on his mind.

The beach beckons and a rosette for Poppy

The rather stifling high temperatures we had last week prompted a couple of early evening seaside visits to Hunstanton.

Our first trip, with Ben too, saw the tide out, but large pools of water left behind on the beach to enjoy a splash around in.  It was relatively quiet so after our paddle we sat on the beach to let our toes dry off before downing a couple of drinks at the lovely Ancient Mariner.

Our second trip a couple of days later, minus Ben, saw the tide in.  Although again early evening, the beach was far, far busier with lots of families swimming in the sea and plenty of other dogs, big and small, enjoying themselves on the sand and catching waves in the water.

Although Poppy will paddle, she's never been one to leap into the water or even swim.  This time, as if fuelled by a rather excited young black labrador close by, she launched herself towards a wave and seemed rather taken aback when it washed right over her!  That is why our photo above shows her still rather damp - sitting on the lawn of the Ancient Mariner, as we once again enjoyed a couple of drinks as the sun went down.

Strangely, Poppy wasn't too good after this last visit, not too sure why.  It could well have been the heat that followed the next day (it was exceptionally hot), or the fact she'd drunk some sea water in her wave launching episode or that she'd scooped up quite a bit of sand playing ball over and over on the beach.  We've also noticed recently that her back end is becoming a little weak - a trait of labradors.  Sometimes she'll take the stairs at home very slowly, rather than bounding up them, and we frequently have to lift her into the Land Rover when we venture out.

However, for a supposedly 12 year old dog, I think she's looking rather good and certainly deserved her 1st place rosette for veteran class at the Long Sutton Dog Show a couple of Sunday's back.

Since the cooler weather Poppy's perked up considerably ... had us a little worried for a moment (visions of blockages sprang to mind).

The yummiest present we received this Christmas - my sister-in-law’s home made chilli jam. 

Last week was mainly about ....

An impromptu visit to Lincoln to look around the University and listen to our final BA Illustration course talk.  The University was pretty impressive and the course tutor we spoke to at length was easy going and informative.  Had a much needed free cuppa afterwards - these visits are quite exhausting!  We caught the early train from Spalding to Lincoln and arrived to be greeted by a flurry of tiny snow balls falling from the sky - it was bitterly cold (that blue sky was very misleading!).  We mooched around a few shops first and I had a bit of a spending spree on present buying, coat buying and lunch too before heading off to the Uni.  As we had an hour to wait for our train back home, we ended up in Costa for cake and more tea and then, because we'd been out and about all day, we picked up fish and chips for tea!  The perfect day in my books.

What else has been happening this last week - well, lots of new items have been made for selling and, rather nicely, lots of sales have been happening too.  I think people are buying earlier this year than last and it'll be interesting to see if the buying trails off earlier because of it.  A new destination too for one group of goodies - Australia.  Every sale, whether overseas or in the UK, is an appreciated sale -  I always have a nice feeling when an item goes off to a new home.

Finally, these adorable new cat charms.  It's quite difficult to find spot on cat charms form my work but suddenly (much like the mini leaping rabbits), I spotted these - aren't they super?  I'm not sure whether I should call them fat cats in my descriptions, but they are rather on the Winter tubby side and have that wonderful rather sour cat face.  In fact, I reckon someone actually based these charms on my very own Pepper!

Uni visits take over!

We have been doing the University visits thing with Katie - it's all very exciting but incredibly draining too.  Wanting initially to take a degree in Game Art, but also showing an interest in Illustration and Graphic Design, our first two uni visits saw us taking part in lectures that covered all these subjects.  At the end of our second uni visit it became clear that Illustration and Graphic Design would be the path she'd prefer.  Although Katie absolutely loves concept art, the Game Art courses involve far more than just that - by doing Illustration she could certainly put her new skills to use at a later date with concept art if she wished.

It may sound obvious, but each uni visit has been a totally different experience, and because of that, the time spent has been well worth it.  There are still a couple more that she'd like to see, but time is no longer on our side (unis seem to all have the same open days), so they'll have to wait until June next year.  Out of the ones we've visited, there seems to be a clear winner so fingers crossed that's the one she'll end up at.  It had a vibrant atmosphere and 100% genuine "warts 'n all" attitude from the course tutor that took the lecture, and the studios were absolutely amazing.  Certainly and inspiring place to study, that's for sure.

Her college work this year is very demanding and it's beginning to take its toll as Katie's often up working until the early hours, even though she's put in a many hours of work during the day.  Trying to find time to complete other necessary things to enable her to even apply to uni is proving difficult.  She needs an impressive portfolio, not just of college work, but her own sketch books too as well as any other bits of work she may have done for others, plus of course the dreaded personal statement.  The stress levels just seem to snowball but it'll all calm down at some point.  I'll look back on this next year and say, "yeah, we got through it"!

Family holiday at Bluestone, Wales

Once a year, the close family on my side get together for a bit of a "do" at my sister's house.  Last year, during said "do" we all decided it would be lovely to have a short holiday away together as we all get along so well and have a bit of a laugh when we're together.  A five night stay was booked at Bluestone, South West Wales - a complex similar to Centre Parcs with chalets surrounding a central small village, lots of daily activities, large fun swimming pool, bike hire and no a car policy (except upon arrival and departure).  We had four chalets in two pairs that interlinked should we wish to un-link to get together - which we did each day and evening.

These few days went by so fast - a whirlwind of fun, laughter, learning, touring, hunting, eating and drinking!  With keen geocachers in the group, there was plenty of opportunity to hunt down geo-treasure in the woods surrounding Bluestone and also a little further afield.  Ben was really into this (we'd had a poor start to geocaching in our local village so this re-boosted his interest) and dug in with his team mates to source caches in the strangest of disguises.

On site activities that some of us pre-booked were archery, lazer clay shoot and kayaking - all great fun and all well presented by the activity leaders. Ben and I took a wander through the tall pines down Steep Revine into Camp Smokey (an area for bbqs etc, etc) and spotted the very scary long zip wires that went from one end of the forest to the other.  I think if we went again, we may book onto the High Ropes and Zip Wire activities and Katie and Ben were eager to get a group together for Woodland Warriers (paintball fun without the paint).

On Thursday some of us booked to go on a horse trek at Crosswell Riding Stables, a 40 mins drive from Bluestone.  The back road journey was spectacular and we had time to stop off and visit Pentre Ifan burial chamber on our way.  In our group of 9, only 2 of us had done any riding either at all or within the last decade or so!  For me, the last time I rode a horse for more than a few minutes was 14 years ago.  It was nice to get back in the saddle, although I think I prefer to have my feet on the ground!  My mount was Cariad (meaning "love") and she looked after me during our 30 minute trek.  She was the boss and didn't like other horses trying to overtake her - she'd weave slightly if she sensed another getting too close!  We all had a brilliant 1/2 hour at such a very friendly and welcoming riding centre.

We spent every evening of our holiday playing board and card games, many of which were filmed as we became more and more rowdy as the evening wore on.  We had late nights and fairly early starts which, for me, began to take its toll by the time we came to leave on Friday morning.  The journey home was long and we were all shattered when the key turned in lock.

It was a brilliant little break - would certainly like to do another holiday like this - perhaps a little longer next time so we can chill a little more.



Top: Blue stone complex - sunset.  We took Boris and he enjoyed his trip!  Pretty Tenby.
Middle: Seagulls at Tenby.  Family archery.  Zip wire across the Steep Revine.
Bottom: Lazer clay shoot.  Pentre Ifan burial chamber.  Paul and me on our steeds.

Christmas down-time

Ellie's Treasures enjoyed a busy Christmas period and it was, as always, lovely to see my items winging their way around the country, and across the pond, to be enjoyed by their new owners.  Many, many thanks for my customers and readers, I do hope you've all had a super festive season.

Sewing new items came to a halt since Christmas began so I could concentrate on a special present for my Dad - a pair of hand warmers. Little rice bags heated for a few seconds in the microwave and popped inside a couple of cotton hand sized bags, will help to keep his mitts warm this winter.  I was really pleased with how they turned out, looking very neat and "hand sized", and very effective in their job.    Stupidly I forgot to take a photo of them before wrapping, but perhaps I'll make another pair sometime to show you.  I wonder if they'd sell well in my shop?

It's been lovely for Katie to enjoy some daylight hours with Jay.  Weather hasn't been fabulous but she's managed to ride quite a few times and she, together with the yard owner, went out for a hack just before Christmas.  Needless to say the blustery wind made both ponies rather spooky, so the hack wasn't quite as long and pleasurable as it could have been!

Christmas has seen parties, quiet days and family get-togethers.  Poppy certainly got into the spirit of things, managing to sniff out her presents from the large pile under the tree and loving every moment of opening and playing with them afterwards.

Boxing day saw me cooking a very large turkey with all the trimmings for some of the family.  All went to plan (thanks to my detailed timetable) and after all the eating three generations of "lads" played a game or two of Tetris on the playstation!

Wishing you all a very happy New Year.  Lets hope 2014 brings you all good health, happiness and a chance to do all those things you've longed to do.

Gorgeous trims, fabby banner and car probs!

Sold this fabric wallet and received a message asking if there was any chance I could either make a wallet in different fabrics or update the heart ribbon on this one with something more funky/retro/stripy or checked.  Unfortunately time wasn't on my side to start a fresh new wallet ready for Christmas mailing (plus the fact I'd run out of zips and my supplier's stock had been completely ruined by flood damage).  Rummaging through my ever growing box of ribbons I couldn't really find anything suitable to use.

This gave me a good excuse to trundle over to my local store and have a nosey at what they had on offer.  First viewing was rather disappointing, I found, and bought, a metre of purple and white checked, but thought it would look a bit bland.  Then by chance I discovered a little box of bundled up trims and ribbons at amazing prices and spent a good 20 minutes deciding which trims would be good for my collection and to use on the wallet.  I was able to find four, and gave my customer a choice.  She picked the very one that I too would have chosen, so I set too unpicking and restitching in double quick time to get a new and very updated looking wallet to send off before last posting date.


Have you seen the new banner on my blog?  My daughter, Katie, put it together for me as she was spurting forth about how awful my previous, new, banner was (I actually thought it was quite pretty).  She's studying media at college and has a particular dislike to fonts that are readily available on the PC and also to Comic Sans (I know, I know, it's a known thing how terrible that font is supposed to be - for me, I actually like it and I've heard it's a good one to use for people who are dyslexic).  Anyway, she liked my Facebook cover and thought she'd adapt that for my blog and two shops.  Have to say, it's simple but effective.  Should add that the Facebook one was put together by me, so ignore the PC available font used on that one!!  She wants to design my next batch of business cards too, as again I've used a "terrible" font.

This week seems, once again, to be a "chasing my tail" week.  College finished on Thursday lunch time so I picked Katie up from her usual coach stop and she headed to the yard to have a nice, but rather excitable, hack on Jay together with the yard owner and one of her ponies.  At least I now have 3 weeks of not so early mornings, much needed I can tell you.

Paul, still working last week, set off to some far flung area of the country to hear weird noises as he reached Peterborough and decided it wasn't worth the risk of continuing.  Having called out the breakdown guys and had the car towed to our well trusted repair garage in Peterborough, it turns out this was the wisest thing he could have done.  Some belt or other was completely worn to threadbare and could have done some pretty permanent damage if it had snapped en-route.  Car restored to working order and then we booked it in again for another "simple" job that needed sorting under the bonnet.  Obviously not so simple as it's still at the garage and won't be looked at again until 5th January!  Sigh.  Luckily the in-laws have lent us their lovely "yellow peril" run around to use as our second car, although, shock horror, this refused to start yesterday evening after sorting Jay out at the yard.  With a boot full of food, chilled and frozen, and Ben at home alone, I wasn't too impressed, especially as again we had to call out the breakdown guys with suggestions that it would be best to tow the car back to Peterborough rather than home!  The lovely yard owner and her family invited us in for a home tour and warm cuppa as we waited for the breakdown van.  Luckily, the chap was able to get the car working - something electrical (I'm a women, what he actually did didn't really sink in).   Home and dry by 8 o'clock - a big glass of wine and take-out was much needed I can tell you.  So this year, we've used the wonderful GEM breakdown 3 times, for 3 different cars.  Money well spent I'd say!

Snap shot ...

Katie spent a few days away with friends in Wales.  It seemed very strange not having her around, especially at the yard, but she had a great time and I have a sneaky feeling she could have stayed longer!


Unfortunately, Katie missed the Olympic torch coming to our area, but the rest of us decided to drive to Peterborough to witness the festivities laid on for the event.  It was a spur-of-the-moment thing and we weren't disappointed.  The Dutch company "Close Act" put on an amazing performance with their huge puppets and stilt walking entertainers.  The costumes were amazing, the puppets breathtaking, and it was great that they were able to walk among the crowds as they acted out their play, getting so close you could really feel part of it all.  The weather, although not fabulous, didn't spoil the event and the atmosphere was so good we wouldn't have noticed a mega soaking, even if it had happened.

Ben cooked an Italian meal for us on Sunday which was scrumptous.  The home made pizza was delicious and so quick to make and the vanilla ice cream to die for.  Alongside the pizza he made a side dish of tomatoes and butter beans, and garlic bread too (the only item he didn't make from scratch).  Nom!

Snap shot ...

from last week - just the one!  We watched the weather forecast all week and decided we'd head to Waddington Air Show on the Saturday for a spectacular display of aircraft.  No rain at all just wind and sun = very rosy noses and cheeks all round.

Snap shot ...

For this last week:


My orchid has bloomed (remember the post not so long ago?) - isn't it beautiful?


Etsy have added something new for shop owners - an "About" page.  I put my thinking cap on and put together a few words about my crafting life from beginning to now.  I'm rather proud of it, and just love the way we're able to add four photos to illustrate our lives and work (the one above has been included).  Hope you like it, it provides a little snap shot of me!


I made this summery boat hanging for my Dad for Father's Day.  Shall be using these cute boat charms in key rings and brooches soon - watch out for them.


Ben took part in his first ju-jitsu demonstration at the weekend.  It wasn't the best weather, very dull and blustery, but at least the rain held off until it was all over and ice-creams had been enjoyed!  He was very nervous about being part of the demo squad (as they call themselves), but I know he had a fun time in the end and liked showing others his skills.

Snap shot ...

Oh dear, we've had a couple of poorly pets this week (both are much better now though).  Kan decided he'd get into a fight Tuesday evening which, this time, he didn't win!  He shot into the house last thing at night and disappeared so we didn't see the extent of his injuries until the morning.  Poor thing had teeth marks and pretty nasty wounds all around his neck, a weepy eye, a lump under this chin and, just to help in his sad appearance, he was completely covered in dirt!  Lots of cleaning up, salt water washes, plenty of sleep and tlc and he's more or less back to normal.  Kan, although much loved by us all here (and the neighbours - he's a bit of a "six dinner Sid"), does find it hard to socialise with other felines - he's a bit of a run and hiss, "get out of the my way" kinda chap.


Any way, our other invalid was Mrs. Tiggs our ex-battery hen.  All my fault, absolutely horrible mother that I am, I shut her foot in the hen-house door.  Heard that awful <> and froze, and there she was, hopping around trying to keep her balance.  She was quite happy to eat her breakfast though, and lay me an egg, but once the grub was finished I scooped her up and brought her indoors to inspect the damage.  The internet suggested putting a "duck foot" splint on, to keep the foot straight.  Apparently their little bones can heal in 3 days (a week for a good mend).  She managed to keep the splint on for 1/2 day and was far too interested in hopping out of her safe box and having a nosey around the house.  Having put her back in the hen-house over night and finding she'd been more than capable of jumping down for food in the morning, I risked letting her loose in the garden.  We've only had a couple of nasty head peckings from Georgie, but now Mrs. T is happy to hop around on one foot with Georgie following her, just like old times!  I wonder if she'll ever be able to use her hurt foot again?  We'll have to see.


The weather, as I'm perfectly sure you know, hasn't been up to much, so when the forecast hinted at a dry (but overcast) Saturday, Paul and I jumped at the opportunity to get under the Land Rover bonnet to have a tinker.  Don't ask me what needed doing, I was just the helper to go under the car and un-screw jubilee clips and help with other simple jobs.  What I did know was that nothing could get at all wet!  Lo and behold, 5 mins into starting we felt the split splats of rain and had to cover everything up and keep our fingers crossed.  The sun did eventually come out so Paul was able to successfully finish the job.  He was pleased it all went to plan, but sadly it hasn't fixed what ever problem it is that's keeping the car off the road.


We celebrated my father-in-law's birthday yesterday with a lovely BBQ in the warmth of the sun.  Being a classical music lover we found a print of the world made up from old music manuscripts - once it's framed it should look great in his study.  Do you like the little tag I made for him?



Here's Ben with their new kittens.  This one is Jennifer, giving Ben a welcome kiss!  Polly is a little more reserved - she remained curled up on the bed just keeping an eye on everything and everyone!

 

Snap shot ...

I'm going to try and do a post once a week about four lovely things.  I have a twitter friend who lists five things every day, which must be quite difficult.  I'm sure there are five wonderful things that happen to us all every day, even if our day has generally been pretty grotty, but by the end of the day I'm far too exhausted to remember anything!  Hopefully thinking of four things once a week won't be quite so taxing *.  So, here we go for this week:

My sister-in-law gave me a beautiful orchid last year for my birthday and I was a bit worried it wouldn't survive.  Orchids are notorious for being difficult to nurture but I placed it in the warmest room in the house (our kitchen conservatory) and kept the soil damp, as suggested in the little instruction tag.  Within a couple of months it was looking sad and neglected so I cut off the completely wilted section and thought I'd leave it to see what would happen.  Amazingly it survived the freezing winter and lo and behold it has started to shows signs of life with these pretty little buds appearing. 

Katie is back riding Jay!  His 3 months of rest, due to a sprain above his front hoof, have finally come to an end and as the vet requested he see Katie riding him in walk for his final visit (due on Thursday), we felt she'd better get back in the saddle beforehand, just in case!  Our yard owner helped out yesterday with the first ride and today Katie rode unaided.

Would love to hear how you've been celebrating the jubilee this weekend?  I have to admit, it's been pretty quiet in our hamlet, although the pub did have a karaoke on Friday and a bouncy castle on Saturday!  Some of the houses have put flags and bunting up which looks wonderful and it was lovely that the sun made an appearance today, after all that rain yesterday.  We watched snippets of the Thames Pageant on TV - loved the bit with Joey the War Horse puppet doing his little bit.  We also watched Prince Charles' programme - just loved that, and All the Queen's Horses last night which made pleasant viewing.  Have been reading about the picnic goers in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and how they each received a rather special hamper - how fabulous.  We shall be watching some of the concert tonight on TV too - quite a good line up I think.

Finally (and no pic for this one), Katie had her IGCSE English Language exam this week and seemed to feel it went OK.  I didn't realise how hard she's been working on this until I filed all her bits and bobs this afternoon.  Her writing has come along so much since we started on this course about a year ago and I know it'll improve even more as we progress to English Literature for next year.  Her love of reading has lead her to start writing book reviews for various authors which she is really enjoying, and she's set up her own blog purely for this.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your long weekend - tell me what you've been up to.

Ellie x

* I've decided to re-call my weekly catch up posts "Snap shot ..." rather than "Four things ..." - just in case I'm stuck for four things lol!